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cn.autoblog.com
Autoblog is one of many popular hubs for online conversations on the Chinese Internet. |
One of my favorite anecdotes on the Chinese media is the story of a law firm, focusing on maritime law, which played with the idea of setting up a small library with publications on maritime law in China. The lawyer in charge gave up on the idea when he discovered that there were 156 publications on maritime law only in China. "I would only be reading, not working," he complained.
This was more than 10 years ago. How now does this work out on the Internet today?
Sam Flemming of CIC Data is tracking conversations on the Chinese Internet on behalf of companies. Some of these conversations happen via weblogs or videos, but the tool of preference are online bulletin boards.
Flemming has come up with some staggering figures related to this research. He is following debates on the automotive industry, and many new car owners in China join these discussions. In September, CIC-data tracked 3.8 million entries on the automotive industry, posted by 93,000 individuals in China -- about 127,000 entries per day.
Following such extensive conversations is what I would call a challenge.
